Monday 18 April 2016

O is for Ocypete



is for Ocypete






Ocypete and hOw the patriarchy determines stereOtypes



Ocypete the swift was a mythic Harpy
A bird woman, though not quite as chirpy
Whatever may be the jam
It’s always cherchez la famme
From mythology to crime to malarkey.

Why do women have to always take the rap
from epic Opprobrium to daily crap?
In literary stereotypes
and in mundane real lives
for every accident and Odd mishap.

Why must Harpies and Sirens be all females
the nastier sex in most of the tales?
If Ocypete were sometimes Pete
I for One would find that neat;
if those cherchez-ed were sometimes males.







O is for Odd : As I scheduled this pOst, there was news Of the Oddest possible hijack, an EgyptAir plane was hijacked this mOrning by a man in a suicide vest, demanding a meeting with whO? the POTUS? nO, his very Own ex-wife! NOt tO pOOh-pOOh the Ordeal of the passengers Or anything, but we were all geared up in frOnt of the TV, the media of cOurse zOOming in with their chOps all licked and dripping, agOg for the terrifying drama, people all Over social media frantically trying to get messages acrOss to their lOved Ones and all, when Oops! the suicide vest turned Out a fake. Egg On everyOne's face, TV crews dispersing with tail between legs, security experts who had pOntificated earlier, going ballistic with Outrage.  All round hilarity ensued, with the Egyptians laughing the lOudest.  LOve their sense of humOur!

The plane was supposed tO land at CairO but was diverted tO Larnaca instead. And what has the CypriOt President said about the incident? - "..there is always a wOman invOlved."  (Sigh...) Of all the cliches did he have to trOt this particular One Out just now??








Posted for the A-Z Challenge 2016 



36 comments:

  1. Of course I agree with you. And the Harpies and the Sirens almost certainly were framed.
    We are far too oten overlooked (as well as looked Over) and anyOne of us who Objects is the subject of Opprobrium.

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    1. Framed. Figures absolutely. With you on that!

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  2. I know what you mean, I'm tired of it too. I've got a novel started where woman takes back the power stolen. Someone decided God was a 'man' and the there it went! The three daughters, harpies of the sea god Thaumas Why isn't daddy called on the carpet for his horrid example, but if Poseidon overthrew him maybe had no real power. LOL

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    1. Apart from all the injustice and gender equality and all that, sO mOnOtOnOus! :) NOt a single Other thOught in their heads!

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  3. I think sirens and harpies are female because they have the power to drawn men in. We don't have quite the same sway with women...

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    1. Erm, with due respect, have to point out that the notions of sexual identity and preferences were very different in ancient times, men were freely drawn to people of both genders.....so how come no Sirens/Harpies/Gorgons were ever depicted as males?

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  4. I think it was bizarre. But, "Odd" gives you many more "O" choices. Well done.

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  5. I think it was bizarre. But, "Odd" gives you many more "O" choices. Well done.

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  6. O how I love this post!! O how I hate that generally speaking, women get blamed for everything and given credit for nothing! It's Odious, Obnoxious, and way Over the top!!!

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    1. And it's Overwhelmingly awful how Obdurate some people can be about power/credit sharing with women!

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  7. Lovely Os. So annoying what that president had to say. :|

    Hope you rocked the festival
    Cheers,
    Seena
    #AtoZChallenge - O is for Onesie

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    1. Thanks! the festival went just great! had a wOnderful time. Agree, his words were gratuitously annoying!

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  8. Ooh La-La! Always blaming woman is Out-and-Out Odious, Obnoxious, Objectionable and Offensive!
    The president's words? OOOPS!
    Writer In Transit

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    1. Great O-comment, O Michelle! :) Totally agree!

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  9. Oh great pOst! :D

    Heather

    http://heathersstitchingstory.blogspot.co.uk/

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  10. Easy to blame a woman, but really, come on, it was the guy with the vest doing the hijacking. How about we blame him for his own actions?
    Discarded Darlings

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    1. Then how'll the men play 'pin the blame on a female'? :O

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  11. Great post and great comments. Such ridiculousness does make me smile.

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  12. Of course women are always to blame because the stories are told by men!!! Eve started it.

    @Kathleen01930
    Meet My Imaginary Friends
    #AtoZchallenge

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    1. Does Eve predate the Gorgons et al? i.e. the Old Testament came before Greek mythology? How interesting!!

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  13. Great post! Poetry of all forms seem to escape me. I love reading it, but can't write it for the life of me!

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    1. Everyone 'writes' their gifts in their own way. And if you look closely enough, there's poetry in everything and there's no escaping that! :) Thanks for being here.

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  14. Oh dear and Oh my. Women do get the rap. Excellent poem. Hope your poetry weekend went well

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  15. O is for outstanding
    thank you for sharing

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  16. Wow! Amazing style of coining words that rhyme so well and make perfect sense too! Looking forward to more from you :)

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  17. Most times, it's true, there is a woman behind the scenes. But we're not to blame for everything. . . who runs these countries anyway - aren't they mostly men?

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    1. Yup, mostly men...if women ran the world they'd do a better job of feeding everyone and playing fair :)

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  18. There are good women stories out there, Li Chi of China, Tatsuka of Japan, Ursula and Staff of Life, The little Red Hen, Durga of India, Baby Doe Taylor of the Gold Rush, etc., etc. We have powers of different sorts, many we do not recognize. REMEMBER: animals can be male or female; stories twist with time; written words stick; in most cultures the male did the writing - The STORY Realm - http://bobbiekinkeadtales.blogspot.com/

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